James Regroups
by campy
Summary: Sequel to Essential Ronness. Ron & Kim are alone in Kim's house, when Mr. Dr. P comes home unexpectedly. Will they become the galaxy's longest–distance relationship ever? Read & review.


This story is a sequel to my first effort, _Essential Ronness_. It can stand on its own, though. Just some more fluff, lemony-scented but still T rated I hope. If you disagree, please let me know.

Before we begin, I want to thank all those who reviewed _ER_: Zaratan, MrDrP, Robert Teague, ANIME FAN ANGUS, ajap2003, KR FOREVER, RamaFan, Jezrianna2.0, mattb3671, grlpossible, sue, Darlene and Rowena. When I put that first story up, I never imagined I would get such glowing reviews. And when I look at your names, and realize that some of my favorite writers posting here actually enjoyed _my_ story, I am just stunned. I'm happy that I was able to repay some small part of the pleasure you've given me.

Once again, thanks to MrDrP for taking the time to beta-read this.

Disclaimer: Disney owns Kim Possible, Ron, Rufus, Jim, Tim, and the Drs. Possible, I don't. Such is life. Pandaroo is a registered trademark of Nakasumi Toys International, but I think that traces back to Disney as well.

* * *

_**Kim Possible**  
_in

**James Regroups**

(An **_Essential Ronness_** Story)

by  
_campy_

Dr. James T. Possible pulled into the driveway and got out of his car, slamming the door behind him. He was still peeved. He'd been at the space center, right in the middle of some delicate work, when a crew had barged in with drop cloths and paint rollers. _Couldn't Building Services have given me some notice that they were going to paint my lab today?_ he grumbled to himself as he approached the front door. He'd decided to work from home on his laptop the rest of the afternoon.

Entering his home, he heard faint voices coming from upstairs.

"KP, I think it's too big!"

"It'll fit, Ron, you're just putting it in the wrong way. Let me show you …"

James grew alarmed. He raced up the stairs, his long legs allowing him to skip every other tread. "Kimmie! I'm home!" he shouted, out of breath, as her reached the ladder to his daughter's loft bedroom.

Kim appeared at the top of the hatch, smiling down at her father. To James' great relief, she was fully dressed except for shoes, and her hair and garments did not appear disheveled at all. Ron Stoppable, her best friend of a dozen years and boyfriend of nearly two weeks, also appeared. He too was fully dressed, and while he was a bit disheveled, that was only to be expected with Ronald.

"Hi, Dad!" she greeted him brightly. "You're home early today?"

"A painting crew started work in my lab today. I'm going to work in the den for the rest of the day. What are you two up to?"

She held up her hands. In the left was a turquoise PDA-phone, in the right a square black object. "Wade just sent over a new, more powerful battery for the Kimmunicator. Ron was having trouble getting it installed. Before that we were studying. Finals are coming soon, you know."

"I see. Where are your brothers?"

"Mom took them to the dentist for their checkups." Kim replied. "They should be back in about an hour" she added, checking her wristwatch.

"Uh-huh. So, you kids have been here alone for awhile?"

"Daaaaad, what are you implying?" Kim asked, arms crossed.

"Uh, KP, why don't we head down to the kitchen? Some snackage would really hit the spot right about now" Ron said nervously, starting down the ladder. Reaching the bottom he looked up at the taller man. "Nice tie, Mr. Dr. P." he said. "Silk?" his voice rising an octave in pitch.

"Ronald." James said, staring down at the boy through narrowed eyes, arms akimbo. "How much do you weigh these days?" he queried, silently going over launch vector calculations in his mind.

"Leave Ron alone, Dad. We were just studying." She grabbed her boyfriend's arm and they headed toward the stairs to the first floor. Ron looked back at James, a plea for mercy in his eyes. James held up one index finger in front of his chest, mouthed the words 'black hole deep,' and slowly raised his hand up toward the ceiling, mimicking a rocket lifting off its launch pad. Ron swallowed, then stumbled, bouncing off the walls of the hallway on his way to the stairs.

* * *

In the kitchen, the two teens found their snackage and sat down at the table. For Ron, crunchy and spicy—Pop-Pop Porter's BBQ Flavored Pop-Popcorn—and apple juice; healthy fruit and Swiss cheese with a glass of milk for Kim. (Kung fu fighting cheerleaders need lots of calcium for strong bones.) Rufus popped out of Ron's pocket and helped himself to some of the cheese. Kim had had the foresight to take much more than she wanted for herself, knowing Rufus as well as she did. 

Ron was beginning to calm down. Snackage always had that effect on him. "KP, is it my imagination or has your dad gotten taller lately?"

"Not likely, Ron. He's like 44 or something. Men don't usually get taller at that age."

"Well, he's becoming more threatening somehow. He never used to look at me the way he does these days."

"Maybe you're just feeling guilty about something. I can't imagine what, though—you haven't done anything with me that you need to feel guilty about. Unless … you're not seeing anyone else behind my back, are you?"

"C'mon KP, get real."

Kim stopped eating and turned slightly to look at Ron. "I'm not hearing a denial in that statement, Ron."

Ron tugged at his collar, looking uncomfortable. "Yeah, about that. KP, you got me. I confess. I've sorta got my own little … harem going right now."

"A harem?" she asked, eyebrows raised. "Maybe you should tell me about this harem."

"Well, I just started dating the school's head cheerleader. She's super hot. When she's on the sidelines in that short little skirt, trust me, ain't _no_ guy paying attention to any game." Kim looked embarrassed, but pleased, at this.

"Mm-hmm, go on."

"Then there's this honor student who's been helping me with my homework a lot lately. Really cute, with big green eyes that don't miss a thing. There's also the girl who edits the yearbook—badical kisser, and makes sure no pictures of the Ronster looking goofy get published."

"I can see how that would be important to you. Are we nearing the end of this parade yet?"

"Almost there. I just need to mention the girl who organizes all our school dances. She can make the gym look like the most romantic place on earth. And finally, there's the teen hero who knows 16 styles of kung fu, can deliver witty banter with the best of 'em, and looks terrific in a crop top." Kim was beaming by now. She reached out and hugged him as hard as she could.

"Wow Ron, you must be quite the stud to keep up with all those girls, and still have time for li'l ol' me." She began playing with his earlobe. Ron scooted away from her.

"Um, KP, your dad's in the house, remember …"

She slid closer to him. "So not the drama, Ron. Dad's just messing with your mind. He still has a few letting-go issues to work through. He's worried about protecting my virtue." She leaned over and began nibbling on Ron's ear, as she ran her fingers through his blond hair. "I guess I can see his point. I mean, you are _so_ cute … I can hardly keep my hands off you."

Ron stood up and moved away from the table. Kim followed. "KP, I really don't think we should get into this here …"

Kim backed Ron up against the refrigerator, her hands on his shoulders, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Oh, don't worry, Ronnie. The big scary man won't hurt you while I'm around" she pouted. "Dad probably thinks we were making out like crazy all afternoon, when all we did was schoolwork. Now that we're taking a break I want to smooch with my hottie boyfriend."

"C'mon, KP. I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place here."

"Oh, Daddy's no rock; he's just a big ol' cuddle-buddy. And as for me, I like the attention you've been paying to my nice soft places lately" she purred in a sultry tone, pressing her body against his as she planted several kisses on his BBQ flavored lips. "But speaking of hard …"

Ron slithered out of her embrace like a greased eel. "K–Kim!" he hiss-squeaked, backing away, "are you trying to send me into hormone meltdown here?"

"What, I should be the only one?" she said, advancing on him again.

"KP! You know I really like kissing you and all that, but it's only fun until somebody _gets put into a deep-space probe!_"

Kim considered this. That would be bad. Her agile mind quickly found a solution to the problem. "Ru-fus," she cooed. "Wanna earn some more cheese?"

"Uh-HUH!" the naked mole rat exclaimed.

"My dad's in his den. Stand watch, and warn us if he comes anywhere near the kitchen in the next five minutes. There'll be a nice wedge of aged Provolone for you when you come back." Rufus eagerly scampered out the door. Italian cheeses ranked very highly in Rufus' opinion. He was particularly fond of Provolone and Romano.

Feeling much safer now, Ron eagerly took Kim into his arms and gave her a passionate kiss. He knew they could rely on Rufus to get their attention if James Possible even looked like he might approach the room. Unfortunately, that left two problems: there was another entrance to the Possibles' kitchen, and the dentist's office had been a lot more efficient than usual that afternoon. Jim and Tim Possible charged into the room from the unguarded entrance, followed moments later by Dr. Ann Possible, a full thirty minutes earlier than expected.

"Auggghhh, Cootie alert!" the tweebs screamed in unison.

"Don't you two realize …" Tim lectured.

"… we have to _eat_ in this room?" Jim added.

"Ugh, I may never eat again, …"

"… at least not 'til this place is decootiefied."

"Tweebs!" Kim snarled. "Don't you little monsters have something to blow up?" The two teens separated, Ron returning to the table to finish his popcorn.

"Boys, leave Ron and your sister alone. Kimmie, I saw Dad's car, is he home from the space center already?"

"Yeah, Mom. He left work early. Painters in his lab."

"I see. And did he walk in on anything like the demonstration I just saw?"

Kim blushed crimson. "No, Mom. We were just doing schoolwork. We hardly touched each other the whole time we were alone. Well, okay, there was that one little kiss I gave Ron … really more of a peck. But he totally deserved it! One of our math homework problems was giving me major headaches. Ron took one look at it and in seconds saw the trick that made it easy. It was just like when we're on a mission: I get in a jam, and he immediately knows exactly what to do. Sometimes I wish I could see things the way he does."

Ann could see that Kim was telling the truth. She was glad she'd decided to trust her alone with Ron when she'd left with the twins.

"I believe you, Kim. But you know your dad would have freaked if he'd seen what I just saw."

"Non-issue, Mrs. Dr. P." Ron declared. "Kim sent Rufus to stand watch for us."

Kim shot him a glare. Very similar to the one her mother was giving her.

"Kim, your dad may be a bit overprotective, but don't think I'm _not_ worried that you two might be rushing things … I'm not ready to become a grandmother yet."

Kim and Ron both blushed. "We don't think we're rushing, Mom. We're not doing anything that could have that kind of consequence."

"All right, Kim. I'll try to get your father to ease up a little, if you'll try to be less physical around us."

"Take the deal, Kim," Ron asked beseechingly. "Please. I need this."

"Okay, Mom, we'll do it—oops, bad choice of words. I mean, we agree."

* * *

James lay in bed, waiting for his wife, worrying. And this time it wasn't some glitch in one of his rockets that was eating at him. It was Ron. Ron and his Kimmie-cub. They were so young, and had such intense feelings for each other, that it frightened him. Had he and Ann done enough to impress on them the serious problems they could cause for themselves by going too far, too fast in this new phase of their relationship? 

_My little Kimmie-cub,_ he thought wistfully _Not so little anymore_. _She's becoming a beautiful young woman, I guess she hasn't _really_ been my little girl for a while now. _He sighed.

Ann slipped into the bed beside him. She could tell her husband was troubled. "Still worried about Kim, Dear?"

"You know me too well, Hon."

"What's your biggest concern, James? Surely you don't think Ron would try to force himself on her?"

"He is a boy, Annie, we can't ignore that any more …"

"Come on, James. We both know Ron as well as we know our own sons—well enough to know he'd never do that. He's not that kind of boy. He loves our daughter and he respects her. And even if he was that kind of boy, Kim is not exactly the victim type. No, whatever happens between those two, it's going to be entirely consensual. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if Kim leads the way."

James sighed theatrically. "Well, if I can't resist an amorous redhead at my age, I can't imagine how a boy Ronald's age would. Still," he mused, "it couldn't hurt to scare him some more. Maybe if I took boxing lessons …"

"Dear, believe me, you've got the poor boy scared out of his wits already—but you're wasting your time. Ron's fears don't stop him from doing things, certainly not things that Kimmie wants him to do. We have to trust that the values we've tried to instill in her, and the Stoppables have given Ron, will guide them toward sensible choices."

"I guess you're right, as usual. Maybe I can afford to lighten up on Ronald—a little."

Kissing him, she replied "Now that's the smartest thing you've said all day, my handsome rocket scientist." She began tracing circles on his chest. "So, Dr. Possible …"

"Yes, Dr. Possible?"

"Since you're wide awake, and I'm wide awake … and I don't have any procedures scheduled for tomorrow … want to play doctor, Doctor?" Ann asked, her voice smoldering.

"Funny you should ask, Doctor. I was wondering if you could help me with this stiffness I seem to have developed …"

"Oh my, yes. I've run across this sort of thing many times. I have exactly what you need right here."

* * *

In another part of the house, the world-famous teen hero Kim Possible slept soundly, hugging her Pandaroo and dreaming of a freckle-faced blond boy and a little girl in pigtails, laughing and chasing a big red ball across a playground. 

_the end_


End file.
